In the previous inventions of the utility patent applications of Ser. Nos. 14/097,228, 14/160,492, 14/187,285, 14/311,338, 14/321,958, 14/462,320, 14/511,150, and 14/527,736, I proposed that an invasive tubular device be guided by an ultrasound imaging that displays a visual reference axis crossing a tissue object, in an ultrasonographic view, which is a target of the invasive tubular device. In these inventions, a linear shadow line as a reference axis for an ultrasound positioning apparatus can be produced by either a movable pointer (Ser. Nos. 14/097,228, 14/160,492, 14/187,285, 14/311,338, 14/321,958, 14/511,150) or a static pointer (Ser. No. 14/527,736).
The prior invention of the utility patent application of Ser. No. 14/527,736 provides placement of a static pointing device in an enclosure attached to the ultrasound positioning apparatus and attachment of the static pointing device to a face of an ultrasound transducer. A permanent placement of the static pointing device to the face of an ultrasound transducer assures of correct positioning of a pointer of the static pointing device in relation to the ultrasound transducer, without variability, for accurate calculation of an angle and a depth of an invasive tubular device to reach the tissue object. Yet, the permanent attachment of the static pointing device would limit availability of the ultrasound positioning apparatus only to compatible and paired ultrasound transducers with the ultrasound positioning apparatus. On the other hand, attachment of a non-reusable static pointing device to a face of an ultrasound transducer manually by a user each time the ultrasonographic positioning apparatus is used is more complicated than the permanent attachment, in that a degree of accuracy of the manual attachment of the non-reusable static pointing device is inherently variable and greatly affects accuracy of the ultrasonographic calculation of the angle and depth of the invasive tubular device to reach the tissue object.
In an effort to broaden availability of ultrasonographic imaging guidance for invasive biopsy procedures, to accommodate general stand-alone ultrasound transducers for the ultrasound positioning apparatus of the prior inventions and to maintain consistent accuracy of the attachment of the non-reusable static pointing device to the face of the ultrasound transducer, the present invention provides an applicator having a non-reusable static pointing device that can be reversibly attachable to the face of the ultrasound transducer, which guarantees accurate application of the non-reusable static pointing device to the face of the ultrasound transducer. The applicator of the present invention releasably encloses the non-reusable static pointing device, and is configured to releasably house a proximal portion of the ultrasound transducer and to rotatably attach the non-reusable static pointing device to the face of the ultrasound transducer. The static pointing device of the present invention uses a thin ultrasound-transmissible flexible polymer sheet that is bendable and has an adhesive on a surface of the sheet contacting the face of the ultrasound transducer for reversible attachment.